Google

Google copies Apple’s 85/15 revenue split for subscriptions, without 1-year requirement

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 9, 2016

Google surely didn't waste any time yesterday. Just a few hours into Apple's App Store announcements which revealed a new 85/15 revenue split for In-App Subscriptions, the Internet giant told Re/code that it, too, will be making a similar change concerning Android app subscriptions on the Play store.

But unlike Apple, which stipulates that devs will see the 70/30 revenue split turn into a 85/15 deal one after one full year of subscription, Google's Play Store 85/15 split would take effect immediately, without the one-year requirement.

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New Google app turns Live Photos into animated GIFs and movies with cinematic backgrounds

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 7, 2016

Google today announced it's launching a brand new iPhone application aimed at those who wish to turn their Live Photos into animated GIFs. Aptly named Motion Stills, the app turns Live Photos into Motion Stills with Google’s stabilization technology and cinematic backgrounds.

These Motion Stills can then be shared as looping GIFs on social media. Motion Stills is available free in the App Store.

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Tony Fadell steps down as Nest CEO

Cody Lee ∙ June 3, 2016

Tony Fadell is stepping down as CEO of Nest, he announced in a blog post on Friday. The former Apple engineer and founder of the smart thermostat/device company, which was purchased by Google in 2014 for $3 billion, says he's moving into an "advisor" role to Alphabet and CEO Larry Page.

Despite recent reports of turmoil within the company, Fadell insists that the move is amicable and the transition has been in progress since late last year. He says he's leaving the company to new CEO Marwan Fawaz, who was previously CTO of cable company Charter, with a two-year roadmap in place.

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Google would love to work with Apple on making messaging more interoperable

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 2, 2016

Google CEO Sundar Pichai sat down for an interview with technology columnist Walt Mossberg at Code Conference yesterday. Fresh off Google's annual developer conference, which was big on artificial intelligence, the executive discussed a range of topics from Android to competition to digital assistants to artificial intelligence and beyond.

Pichai also expressed hope that big technology companies can work together on making their proprietary messaging services more interoperable.

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Google’s Home gadget is based on Chromecast hardware, doesn’t run Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 1, 2016

Home, the search giant's always-listening Amazon Echo rival that was announced at Google I/O 2016, is basically a “dressed up” version of the company's $35 Chromecast HDMI dongle, claims a paywall'd article published by The Information.

It's a bit odd that Google's upcoming device doesn't run Android—it's powered by the same Linux-based OS used on the Chromecast—though Google has reportedly discussed using Android for the next version of Home.

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Eric Schmidt trolls Apple users (again): Galaxy S7 has better battery and camera than iPhone 6s

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 25, 2016

It's an established fact that Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt owns an iPhone because, you know, it pays to experience what the competition is doing firsthand. In a fireside chat at the Startup Fest Europe in Amsterdam, Netherlands, today with CNBC journalist Julia Chatterley, he publicly admitted for the first time to using both an iPhone 6s and Galaxy S7, teasing the mostly iPhone-totting audience that Samsung's device is better.

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Google Maps gains new voice controls in navigation, Street View tweaks and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 24, 2016

Google's native mapping application for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad was bumped to version 4.19 this morning, bringing out a few enhancements meant to improve your navigation and Street View experience.

For starters, a few new voice controls are now available in navigation to mute, unmute or turn on alerts only. You can also move around Street View by swiping, and more.

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Introducing Assistant, Google’s conversational AI helper

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 18, 2016

In addition to announcing a pair of new iPhone apps for messaging and video calling and a preview of its Amazon Echo-killer, the Google I/O 2016 keynote saw some pretty exciting news regarding the search giant's all-new two-way conversational assistant, coming soon to all your devices.

Named Assistant, it's a big upgrade to Google Now that builds “on all our years of investment in deeply understanding users' questions”.

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Check out Home, Google’s Amazon Echo killer

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 18, 2016

During the keynote presentation this morning which kicked off Google I/O 2016, the Internet giant previewed its much-anticipated entry into the voice-activated home device market in the form of a new appliance, named Google Home.

With a built-in Google Assistant that also powers Duo, a new smart messaging app coming to iOS and Android this summer, Home lets you retrieve information from the Internet, get answers to simple questions and carry out basic tasks—using your voice and the familiar “OK Google” wakeup phrase.

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